DeKALB — Alongside the wrestling program, NIU gymnastics hosted the Beauty and the Beast Meet on Friday night. The Huskies also celebrated their Senior Night, competing in a tri-meet against the Southeast Missouri State University Redhawks and the Wilberforce University Bulldogs.
Despite having eight podium finishers across all four events, the Huskies couldn’t surpass the Redhawks. The Huskies (3-7, 0-5 MAC) dogwalked the Bulldogs, but fell short against the Redhawks (12-4, 4-0 MIC). SEMO came out on top with a 193.900 total score, NIU took second with 191.700 and Wilberforce came in last with 180.775.
“We had to count some falls tonight, so that is not the meet we wanted,” head coach Dawnita “Nita” Teague said via text. “We will get back at it on Monday at ISU.”
Junior Dawsyn Sallee tied for first place on vault with Redhawk senior Taylor Ingle, scoring a 9.825 for the second time this season. Sallee led the Huskies’ lineup on vault to help the team secure a 48.475 score, and also competed on the balance beam and floor.
“I put in a lot of work in the gym,” Sallee said. “I have been working on those little details to get those last 10ths back. I’m really happy to get another good score that reflects that.”
Sallee said the amount of action in the Convo competing alongside wrestling helped the team keep their energy up.
“Beauty and the Beast is one of our favorite events,” Sallee said. “The stands are packed, there’s a lot of things going on, but we can use that to our advantage. We definitely used the energy tonight.”
Freshman Elizabeth Poncin earned first place on the uneven bars podium, scoring a career and team-high 9.825.
“I was really excited,” Poncin said. “I’ve really been working towards the stick and everything, just putting the details together. To be able to get my career high was very exciting.”
Besides the excitement of NIU’s annual Beauty and the Beast Meet, Poncin enjoyed helping celebrate the seniors after the meet concluded.
“It was so awesome to see how much they’ve truly put into this team,” Poncin said. “Even only knowing them for a year, it’s been an honor to be able to look up to them as leaders. They’re truly amazing people.”
OTHER PODIUM FINISHERS
Sophomore Drake White tied for first place on floor, scoring 9.800 alongside SEMO’s Ingle, and earned third on the vault podium with her third 9.750 score of the season. Junior Mikayla Brown placed second on the balance beam podium with a season-high 9.850 score.
Reaching her season-high on bars for a second time, freshman Deziray Boykin secured second place with a 9.725 score. Freshman Avery Riiff followed Boykin in third with a 9.700 score. Senior Jocelyn Harbeck placed third on floor with a score of 9.725, and was honored after the meet with other seniors Samantha Nickle and Kiera O’Shea.
“We had some outstanding performances today,” Teague said via text.
UP NEXT
NIU heads south to Illinois State University in hopes of claiming its first road win at 6 p.m. Monday in Normal, Illinois.
